Pension savers want more digital interaction with their pensions, but many providers are still relying on “outdated” forms of communication, new research suggests.
The latest UK workplace pension member research by Bravura, ‘Pensions 2045: The Voice of the Saver’ found three-quarters (75%) of UK workplace pension holders do not have access to retirement income estimators, savings calculators or retirement goal trackers; their three preferred tools for retirement planning.
In addition, nine in ten pension members did not have access to tax planning, social security benefits estimators or interactive scenario modelling tools.
The research found that respondents would be more likely to engage with their pension if it was accessible through their online banking account, with 85% preferring to access this information via a mobile app.
Bravura said the research highlighted a “clear opportunity” for providers to take a more prominent role and deliver an outcome-based model to their members.
Nearly three-quarters (73%) of people said they would use a digital advice service if it was offered through their pension provider and the vast majority (84%) believe that more people should have access to digital or financial advice to achieve better retirement outcomes.
The role of providers was clear, with 55% believing providers have more of a responsibility for educating people about their pensions, compared to other forms of help, including the Government’s Money Helper (49%) and employers (46%).
Jonathan Hawkins, proposition lead EMEA at Bravura, said: “It’s sad to see that most workplace members don’t have access to crucial retirement planning tools, given we’re well over a decade into the UK’s auto-enrolment journey. It, unfortunately, shows that we still have a long way to go to make our industry more competitive and focussed on the needs of savers to encourage engagement.
“Dashboards will undoubtedly be an important step towards effectively modernising the UK’s pensions sector, and the industry needs to use this as a springboard to find its place in the open finance ecosystem and all the benefits it will bring to consumers.”
Hawkins warned many providers, schemes, TPAs and Master Trusts could “quickly see their legacy business models go up in smoke without the appropriate investment in technology.”
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